It does help to retain the talent, those 5-10y engineers have a house on mortgage and need a higher pay incentive to uproot their lives. At least, that was probably the reasoning before, things have changed:

- WFH means you do not even have to move.

- Competitors have set up satellite offices in Hillsborough/Portland to poach talent.

- Intel does not feel like the stable employer anymore, with the almost yearly layoff waves since the BK era.